The present invention relates to the field of articles or products designed to support individually a number of containers in an up-right position and more particularly the carrying or packaging trays which are molded to substantially finished form with horizontal and sloping wall portions to permit empty trays to be nested one within another in a compact and convenient stack for shipment and storage prior to use.
In particular the invention is directed to carrying trays which are particularly suitable for holding containers in fast food eating establishments.
Heretofore, molded trays have been used in fast food eating establishments by providing a tray with a plurality of sockets for holding one or more containers. Such trays are generally also provided with areas for holding other food items. U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,008 discloses a molded tray which is capable of holding two containers having a range of sizes. The sockets for holding the trays are provided adjacent each other at one end of the tray. The remainder of the tray is used for holding other items of food. With the recent growth in the fast food industry certain changes have restricted the true universal use of container carrying trays. For example, in fast food restaurants the smaller size container is generally an 8 oz. container and the sizes have increased up to 22 oz. While the tray of the '008 patent would be satisfactory for holding containers in the range of 8-22 oz. such trays are not suitable for larger size containers namely the 32 oz. beverage cup that is now in use in fast food restaurants. Another restriction in the design of suitable fast food trays is the necessity that the trays be dimensioned to slide through take-out windows. In practice, such windows are generally about 101/2-111/2 inches wide. Accordingly, a tray must be of lesser width to conveniently pass through the window. This presents difficulties in designing a tray capable of holding different size containers including the largest 32 oz. container.